Qualla: Battle of Bến Tre https://qualla.com/battle-of-ben-tre en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:36 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Battle of Bến Tre https://qualla.com/battle-of-ben-tre Battle of Bến Tre: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-ben-tre/ "It became necessary to destroy the town to save it." Whether or not an unnamed American major actually said those words to journalist Peter Arnett in early February 1968, the quote crystallized something real about Bến Tre and the war that engulfed it. This island city in the Mekong Delta, wedged between two branches of the great river and laced with canals, had been a stronghold of resistance long before the Tet Offensive brought it to the world's attention. When Vietcong forces attacked on January 31, 1968, they were striking a place they knew intimately — and the response would leave much of the city in ruins.

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/3/g/d/battle-of-ben-tre-wp/w3gd-battle-of-b-n-tre-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Bến Tre: Cradle of Rebellion https://qualla.com/battle-of-ben-tre/ Bến Tre's significance to the Vietcong went back nearly a decade before Tet. In January 1960, Nguyễn Thị Định — one of the very few high-ranking women in the VC — led the first large-scale armed rebellion against the South Vietnamese government here, capturing ten government buil...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/3/g/d/battle-of-ben-tre-wp/w3gd-battle-of-b-n-tre-cradle-of-rebellion.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Bến Tre: Sixteen Hours to Near-Collapse https://qualla.com/battle-of-ben-tre/ The attack began on January 31 as part of the coordinated Tet Offensive, striking simultaneously across South Vietnam during what was supposed to be a ceasefire for the Lunar New Year. Within sixteen hours, the Vietcong controlled virtually the entire city and a string of fishing...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/3/g/d/battle-of-ben-tre-wp/w3gd-battle-of-b-n-tre-sixteen-hours-to-near-collapse.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Bến Tre: River Patrol in the Dark https://qualla.com/battle-of-ben-tre/ PBRs 7-20 and 7-21 were patrolling the Hàm Luông River when they first heard the shooting. The crews initially mistook it for Vietnamese soldiers celebrating Tết, until they spotted the telltale green tracer rounds of the Vietcong arcing above the city. Moving down the Bến Tre Ri...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/3/g/d/battle-of-ben-tre-wp/w3gd-battle-of-b-n-tre-river-patrol-in-the-dark.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Bến Tre: Destroying the Town https://qualla.com/battle-of-ben-tre/ The battle ground on until February 5, when U.S. and South Vietnamese forces finally ejected the Vietcong, who suffered 328 killed. But the cost to Bến Tre itself was devastating. The heavy reliance on airpower and naval bombardment to dislodge entrenched fighters from a populate...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/3/g/d/battle-of-ben-tre-wp/w3gd-battle-of-b-n-tre-destroying-the-town.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Bến Tre: The View from Above https://qualla.com/battle-of-ben-tre/ Seen from the air today, Bến Tre is a green tapestry of coconut palms and fruit orchards threaded with silver waterways. The city sits on an island in the Mekong, and from altitude the surrounding delta reveals its true character: not solid land but a lattice of rivers, canals, a...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/3/g/d/battle-of-ben-tre-wp/w3gd-battle-of-b-n-tre-the-view-from-above.mp3 0:06 6 full